Sugar vs dumb MESSAGE
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sugar
Express yourself beyond standard chat bubbles. This app lets you draw, add text, images, GIFs, and videos anywhere on an unlimited canvas, transforming conversations into a creative art form.
- Unlimited canvas for messages
- Draw directly on messages
- Add text, images, GIFs, and videos
- Customizable text styles
- Conversations as art
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Why are our messages with friends constrained to generic green and blue chat bubbles? It’s time to add some color (and chaos) to your conversations with Sugar. On Sugar, chat outside the box by dropping text, images, GIFs, videos, and drawings anywhere on the unlimited canvas. Pick a text style as unique as your own voice (or keep it old school with a green or blue bubble). On Sugar, conversation is art.
dumb MESSAGE
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The future was supposed to be simpler. dumb MESSAGE is one shared pixel canvas. You draw. Your friends draw. Everyone sees the same thing at the same time. No feed to refresh. No followers to impress. No typing bubble making you anxious. No color because frankly, you’ll cope. There is no feed. There is no typing indicator. There isn't even color. HOW IT WORKS • Start a canvas and get an ID you can say out loud, like MINTFOX42 • Send the link. Friends open it and their ink shows up next to yours • One finger draws, two fingers pan • Point the camera at anything and stamp it as dithered 1-bit pixels • Or talk — dictation turns your words into pixel type on the canvas • DAY mode is reflective gray. NIGHT mode glows green
Screenshots
Verdict
Sugar and dumb MESSAGE are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sugar | dumb MESSAGE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.4 (10 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 31.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 10 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days | Every 2 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 262 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | amo | Matt Jakob |
Bugs and requests
Sugar
Reported bugs
4 issues- Login issues
- Crashes and freezes
- Disappearing content
- Unresponsive controls
Requested features
4 requests- Add ability to delete content
- Improve navigation and UI
- Expand customization options
- Allow sign-up without inviting friends
dumb MESSAGE
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Sugar
No in-app purchases
dumb MESSAGE
No in-app purchases
